A new poll by GenFKD finds that while millennial voters (ages 18-34) make up 36 percent of all eligible voters, 85 percent of these voters feel ignored by the 2016 presidential candidates.
Millennials could be the biggest generational voting block in 2016, yet candidates from both parties — maybe with the exception of Sens. Bernie Sanders and Rand Paul — aren’t tailoring their campaigns to attract this demographic.
With the Republican debate on Thursday and the first caucus/primaries approaching, the question is: Will Republicans seize this opportunity?
One of the easiest ways to ensure Republican victory in 2016 is to perform better with millennials. The Republican nominee would win the election decisively if he or she only loses the youth vote by 10 percent — instead of losing by 20+ percent like the GOP did in 2012 and 2008.
Polls show two things: millennials feel ignored, and they don’t like Hillary Clinton. Even millennial Democrat women prefer Sanders over Clinton.
With Clinton as the likely nominee, Republicans should easily be able to make up 10 percent among young voters. That is, if they focus on them now and keep the efforts going until November.
To do this, Republicans can start by highlighting their solutions to millennials’ biggest problems. The GenFKD poll found the four top issues millennials care about are: jobs and economic growth (19 percent), climate change (14 percent), healthcare (11 percent), and student debt (10 percent).
Let’s assume Republicans won’t win voters solely focused on climate change; they can still win big on the three other issues: the economy, health reform, and college affordability.
On college affordability, Republicans should run on both higher education reform and student loan reform. Colleges should not receive federal aid if they turn around and significantly raise tuition, most times to expand luxury amenities or non-essential programs on campus. Our student loan system needs lower interest rates geared toward incentivizing students to major in modern and marketable fields. The GenFKD poll showed nearly 1-in-5 students wished they had majored in something more productive.
On health reform, young Americans — who may be older than 26, or not have parents rich enough to add them to their plans — already know that Obamacare is raising their rates. In fact, that was by design, as Obamacare changed the pricing ratios so the young subsidize the aging. Republicans need to offer them a more affordable alternative, like the HSA programs being championed by many Republican governors.
On the economy, Republicans need to explain how pro-business tax policies have historically resulted in lower youth unemployment rates. Tax reform gives job creators the capital they need to invest in entry-level jobs and new technology.
These are just a starting point. There are plenty of Republican solutions to millennials’ economic woes — but Republicans actually need to start talking about them. The 2016 Republican candidates need to talk about these solutions on college campuses; they need to talk about them at young professional events; and, they need to talk about them in widely televised events.
A perfect opportunity is Thursday’s debate, hosted by the Fox Business Network.
